From Enemies to Friends and Friends to…
by HikariLilium
Summary: Sonic, with its unique ability to make friends, managed to gain a place in the life of Shadow. A strange pseudo-friendship that works for both. But one day, poking around your stuff, accidentally discovers something of Shadow. Sonadow.
1. Chapter 1

From Enemies to Friends and Friends to…

Translated by **leonardo408** from DeviantArt

Warnings:  
\- spelling errors.  
-Things that make no sense.  
-The characters in this story do not belong to me. They are the property of SEGA.  
-The story however belongs to me; it came out of this crazy mind. XD  
-yaoi/GuyxGuy.  
-Enjoy!

 _Chapter 1_

He always wondered why he always ended up there. Every time he went on his solitary walks, something that was becoming more frequent, he would instinctively head to that small, isolated house. No matter how many times the owner of that house told him though, he never called to say he'd drop by. Mostly since he never carried any form of communication with him. Every once in a while, his brother would force him to carry one of his new inventions to stay in contact. But, the poor things all suffered the same fate: they would break during a fight, they were forgotten on one of his adventures or they simply couldn't with stand the supersonic speed and were dropped along the way. The other reason he never called was because even he didn't know when he'd end up in front of that door again. But, he was here already, right?  
He snapped out of his thoughts and knocked enthusiastically, taking a few steps backs to wait. No answer. He knocked again, insistently and again waited. Again there was no sound, not even an insult or death threat. He sighed and tried peeking through one of the windows, only to have the curtains halt his attempts.

"Come on! Open the door! I know you're in there!" he yelled at the house.

"No, I'm not", a ghostly voice whispered close behind him. It made him jump a few steps away, making his heart stop for a second.

"Oh, there you are", he answered back in a normal tone and placed his hands behind his head in a casual pose.

"Did I scare you, faker?" Shadow said with an almost imperceptible smile as he stepped forward to open the door.

"Ha! That was a good one, huh? How long did it take to set that one up?" he said with a joking tone to get back at him. Though he wasn't really mad, these fake arguments had simply become part of their friendship for some time now.

"It was random", Shadow stated, as he stepped in, and placed a bag on a small table in the living room, "I did not think you would react so childishly", he said with another smirk.

"I'm sure you spend all day waiting for me, watching me from behind a bush to see when I'd come here", Sonic lied down on the sofa.

"Yes, that's exactly what I did", Shadow finished putting up the things in the bag and slowly walked back to the sofa. "But, I wouldn't have to do that", he cast a serious look at Sonic. "If you would say when the hell you were coming over", he said throwing a pillow at him, "and get your filthy feet off my sofa".

"Aw, come on, I'm comfortable"

"You're such a brat…"

"So you admit you were waiting for me all day", Sonic said with a smirk of his own.

"I'm serious…"

"Fine, fine", he said, his plan to distract him having failed as he sat correctly on the sofa. "Hey, buddy, got any food?"

"For you, no", Shadow sat in a chair close to a table.

"Come on, it's common courtesy to offer your guest something to eat or drink"

"No one invited you", he said, picking up a book from the table and calmly flipping through it still listening to his 'not-guest'.

"Fine, I'll get myself something", Sonic announced, hopping to his feet to make his way to the kitchen.

"No", the other said pushing Sonic back into the sofa. "Last time you tried cooking, I had to replace the curtains and there is still a stain on the ceiling."

"It was an accident!" he said, making exaggerated gestures, "You're never gonna forgive me for that?"

"No", was Shadow's curt response as he got up and headed to the kitchen, making his guest smile happily.

"Thanks, Shadow!" he said in a singsong tone.

"Shut up" was the quiet response from the kitchen.

Now alone in the room, Sonic looked around, noticing everything exactly as it had been last time. Well, it had only been a few days since he last visited so not much could change. It was a simple house that felt almost empty save for some furniture. In the living room there was a small table and some chairs, not much more needed as Shadow never invited anyone over. Aside from that was the sofa where he now sat, placed close to the window so that its' owner could read comfortably from the natural light. Sonic had learned many of his close friend's habits. Well, not so close since they had recently become friends, but Sonic still felt he could trust him as much as any of his close friends. The only other furniture in the room was a bookcase against a nearby wall which held many different books. Sonic got up and walked towards it, grabbing a new book.

The cover read: Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes. Sonic flipped through the book for a few seconds finally closing the book and putting it back.

"I didn't understand a single word", he hung his head in defeat. "These books are too difficult, Shadow", he yelled the last part for the other to hear.

"If you would concentrate on them for more than a couple of seconds you would understand them. You always do the same thing"

"Agh!" Sonic groaned and went back to sit on the chair Shadow had occupied earlier.

On the table, he found a laptop and turned it on to find something to do. Though he wasn't too tech savvy, he could still kill time while his host was busy in the kitchen. He didn't want to complain about Shadow taking too long and risk getting kicked out with an empty stomach.

When the screen came on, the screen showed a tab open with a wall of text. Without thinking, Sonic minimized the window to look for something else. Not before accidentally reading part of the text.

 _"_ _Moans of pleasure"_

Now his curiosity was piqued. Opening the window again, he read the one sentence to satisfy his curiosity.

 _""_ _Yes, I like it", he whispered between small, barely audible moans of pleasure."_

And done. He minimized the window again. However, new questions soon plagued him.

 _"_ _What type of book is this? Was this some kind of erotic novel? Maybe the character isn't doing anything like that and I just misinterpreted it. Besides, why would Shadow read anything like that? He wouldn't-"_ , he stopped himself in mid-thought, mentally hitting himself up the side of his head. If Shadow were to hear what he thought just now, he would never let him in his house. In fact, he'd only look at him with hate or not at all. _"_ _I'm being paranoid. He wouldn't over react like that. It's just a book talking about someone moaning…But why was the character moaning? What did he like?...Okay, one more peek. After all, Shadow did say I had to read longer than a few seconds to understand a book, right? Right"._

 _""_ _You like that", he said, between lust-filled kisses over the other's body, his hands exploring the other's body."_

The sound of something breaking echoed through the house. Fearing he had been caught, Sonic quickly glance behind him. He sighed in relief when he saw no one behind him and realized the sound had come from the kitchen.

"Shadow, you okay?" he asked a bit worried, getting up with the intention to see what had happened.

"Yes, I dropped a glass and couldn't catch it since I had my hands full with your food", the other replied. At that moment, he came into the living room with a plate full of chili dogs and two drinks.

Not registering anything the other said, Sonic pounced for the plate, jumping back onto the sofa with little grace. Shadow merely sighed, placing the two cups on the table.  
Shadow was a bit surprised when he saw his laptop open and quickly moved to shut it. He felt his face redden as a certain thought crossed his mind.

"Phanx Sado, vu zur no fmf aw laik"

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Shadow scolded as he took a sit next to the blue hedgehog, "and eat more slowly".

The other chewed furiously and swallowed hard, almost choking on the food.

"Thanks, man. You sure know what I like", he finished, quickly stuffing his face with another chili dog.

"Considering how mysterious you are", Shadow commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"That's your role, I'm the charismatic hero, remember?", Sonic said, striking a heroic pose.

"Wipe your mouth before you save the world, hero", the other said as he handed him a napkin.

Sonic broke into a fit of laughter, followed by Shadow's own quiet laughs. Shadow didn't hide his smile and Sonic, inwardly was thankful for this.

It was moments like these that filled Shadow with a warm feeling. He imagined that nice feeling was finally having someone that would never let him be alone again.


	2. Chapter 2

Translated by **leonardo408**

 _Chapter 2_

That night after his visit to the ultimate life form's house, Sonic found his curiosity and doubts over what he had read were beginning to gnaw at his mind again, making him restless.

The blue hedgehog was becoming frustrated over these thoughts that wouldn't let him rest. He wanted to act like nothing had happened but who would have thought he was this curious?

He was determined to not let his stupid brain interfere with his friendship with Shadow; since it almost convinced him to visit his house at that moment and ask him face to face. Rather than chance it, Sonic set off on a long trip to clear his head.

His trip lasted roughly one week. That afternoon, as the sun was setting, he found himself in front of that door again. This time however, he hesitated to knock.

"Hi! Well, I just got back from a trip and…No, no", he practiced, muttering to himself what he would tell his friend.

"Well, I'll get to the point. The last time I was here I read some of your things…and I read something weird that caught my attention and I wanted to ask if-"

"Do you want the book?"

The poor hedgehog nearly fainted from the scare. Shadow had opened the door and had found Sonic talking to himself with his back to him.

"Huh? Ah! Hi", Sonic greeted, feigning his normally cheerful tone. He was, however, ignored by the older one whom went back inside and soon came back with a book in hand.

"I got it the day before your visit", Shadow answered in a serious tone and tossing it to the other whom easily caught it. "It was a gift so you can keep it. I have things to do, so good bye", with that Shadow closed the door before the other could say anything.

Sonic froze as he processed what had just happened and studied the book in his hands.

"But…this is…" he studied the beautifully colored cover, "a manga…?"

He could do little more than go home.

That night, as he was getting ready for bed, he made up his mind to go back tomorrow and return the manga to Shadow. However, seeing as he was bored at the moment, he decided to at least scan through the book. What could go wrong, right?

He sat down, picked up the book and leafed through the pages. To his surprise, he stopped at a specific page and panel that almost made him faint. He slammed the book shut.

"What was that?!" he yelled with a traumatized tone, taking a few seconds to calm down.  
He picked the book up again and searched for the one page.

"What the…?" he trailed off, the page still shocking him.

The page had a beautiful illustration of a black fox with blue eyes happily receiving the attentions of a dark blue panther with green eyes.

 _"_ _They look like…"_

Sonic examined each detail on the page, amazed with the attention the creators had put into the drawing.

"They're both guys!"

Against his better judgment, he read the dialogue.

 _"_ _Does it feel good, Daiko?"_

 _"_ _Y-yes *gasp* it feels real good, Zai"_

The entire page had small 'gasps' and 'moans' written around the scene.

The hero could read no more and threw the manga to the other side of the bed. He got up and begin to pace in his room.

 _"_ _Why would anybody do this? Why would anybody buy this?"_ he thought still shocked. "Wait…Why did Shadow buy this?! _No, he said someone gave it to him"_. He stopped walking and picked up the manga again, "Why would they give this as a gift?!"

In that moment, he took the chance to read the title

 _"_ _From Enemies to Friends and Friends to…"_

The cover picture was of the two protagonists with their backs to each other.

"I'll read it", he sat back down, convincing himself that he had nothing against homosexuality and could read this calmly. "I'll just read it as if it were any other love story"

That was the plan. However, as he read further into the book, he would get shocked an often drop the book. Even so, he persisted, willing to finish the book.

"Wow!" he exclaimed as he reached the last page.

 _"_ _We hope you liked the short story we made. To our friends, the protagonists, they did not like it one bit. Buehh! Those are the consequences of losing a bet XD.  
Thanks to all for your attention. We'll see you all again!  
Att: Hikari and Eiko Lilium :3"_

"They did it for a bet? Poor guys…" he placed the book back on the small night table and lied down peacefully on his bed.

"At least I learned a few things", he said smiling.

About 25 pages in, Sonic learned that although he didn't enjoy this particular type of literature, it was still a love story. It had its' racy parts, as well as sad, dramatic and many funny parts. He even felt happy when the two characters were able to express their feelings for one another.

"After all", he yawned, "it wasn't that bad", he mumbled as he fell asleep peacefully.

The next morning

"Ahh!" Sonic stretched as he got up, looking at the time. "It's late, but at least I slept nicely!"

"Sonic! Are you going to eat breakfast?" Tails yelled from the other side of the door.

"I'm going, little brother!", he yelled back, jumping out of bed and opening the door to greet the fox "Good morning!"

"Good…morning…" Tails responded, visibly uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Tails?"

The fox pointed discretely to Sonic's lower half, the other following where he was pointing.  
"Wha-", saying nothing more, Sonic ran to the bathroom, leaving the poor fox by himself.

He quickly took off his dirty clothes, and got into the bathtub.

 _"_ _It had been a while since that had happened"_ , he thought while warm water ran down his face. He liked the sensation of the water, if only in the shower.

 _"_ _I think the last time was when I had a crush on Sally and I dreamed that…"_ he thought for a moment. _"_ _What did I dream of last night?"_ he tried and failed to recall his dream.

He decided it wasn't that important and went back down to join Tails for breakfast.

The little fox was fine. They had lived together for so many years that he didn't really care too much for this morning's awkward situation.

"What are you doing today?" asked Sonic, drying his quills with a towel as he sat down to eat.

"I still have some work to do on the Tornado, and then I'm eating lunch at Cream's house. Do you want to come?" the fox asked.

"No, thanks. I'm gonna go see Shadow. I have to give back a book." he answered as he started eating, "Mm, delicious!"

"A book? He let you borrow a book?" the other said surprised.

"Yep"

"Hahaha Comics?"

"Hey! What's so funny?" he protested.

"Hahaha that it's you!", when he was finally able to stop laughing, "I'm sorry, Sonic. What was the book about?"

"Well, actually it's a manga" The answer had the fox cracking up again.

"Haha I'm sorry it's just haha I can only imagine"

In the end, the laughter from the fox made Sonic start laughing as well.

After breakfast, Tails left to buy something for when he went to Cream's house. Meanwhile, Sonic stayed to practice what to say to Shadow.

He wasn't sure what to tell him about the manga. That he liked it or didn't? And how was he supposed to tell him that that wasn't what he was talking about? He wanted to find the right words to make this less awkward.

"Shadow, thanks for the manga. It was good…No! No, I can't say that. What would he think!" the hedgehog paced around the living room while he practiced.

"Shadow…Thanks for the manga! It wasn't bad, but it was a bit weird…I can't say that either! What if he thinks that I'm just a homophobic idiot?" each wrong sentence made Sonic pull at his quills as he became more nervous of looking bad.

"Shadow! Thanks for the manga, I read it last night. But I wasn't talking about that when I talked to you yesterday…Yeah, that could work", he said, satisfied. His small victory was short-lived as he thought of the possibility of the other hedgehog asking him what he thought of the manga.

This could take a while, not to mention he still had to explain why he was snooping through Shadow's laptop.


	3. Chapter 3

_Translated by_ ** _leonardo408_**

 _Chapter 3_

When he was satisfied with his choice of words, Sonic left to see Shadow. For better or for worse, he couldn't find him. In the afternoon, he tried again but still couldn't find him. It wasn't until night time, when he was headed home that he ran into someone on the way.

"Hello, Faker", greeted the hedgehog, standing elegantly before him with his arms crossed.

"Shadow! I went to your house three times! Where were you?"

"I told you I had some things to attend to… Besides I don't have to explain anything to you!"

"Yeah yeah. I'm the ultimate life form and I don't have to tell anyone anything blah blah", he said jokingly, trying to ease his own nerves.

"Hmph", was Shadow's simple answer before heading off to his house, leaving the blue hedgehog behind.

"Hey, wait!" he ran after him. "Geez, someone's angry. Did ya have a bad day?"

"Go away"

"But I need to talk to you"

Somehow, their walk quickly turned into a race to Shadow's house. The road proved to be too short as both arrived at the same time within seconds.

"What do you want now?" Shadow spat, frustrated now. Sonic knew far too well how easy it was to offend the other, considering how often he had done it.

"Can I come in?" he asked, moving towards the door.

"No"

"Pleeeeaasse", Sonic begged, making puppy eyes.

"Shut up", Shadow muttered with a glare

"Ok! Ok! Quit glaring at me. It was worth a try", he scratched his head as he looked away. "Besides, I…wanted to give this back…" he said as he handed back the manga.

"Did you read it?" the other asked, trying to not let his surprise show.

"Of course I did! Well, you know since you let me borrow it and…" he trailed off. This was not going as planned, but at least nothing bad had happened yet.

"What did you think?" the black hedgehog asked, now feeling a bit nervous.

"Well, the pictures were nice and colorful! Haha", he said hastily, not sure if there was anything better he could say.

"I see", the other answered, disillusioned, and headed into the house. "If that is all, bye", he said, closing the door.

"No, wait!" Sonic held the door open. "I wanted to tell you something else."

"What?"

"I…"

"Just say it. I don't have time for your games"

Sonic breathed deeply, clenching his eyes shut as the words spilled out of his mouth.

"I read something on your laptop. I know you don't like it when I look through your stuff, but it was an accident! The other day I came to ask you what it was but I don't think you understood and you gave me the manga instead. I read that too, but it was because I was bored. What I really want to know is what I read on your laptop". When he finished, Sonic finally took a breath and waited for an insult, a fist or any reaction.

Nothing happened.

"What did you read?" a now surprised Shadow asked, his full attention on Sonic.

"Something about…I don't know someone moaning and stuff", he muttered, not sure what else to say.

"What else?" Shadow stepped closer to Sonic, now ready to force him to talk if need be.

"Nothing else!" the other yelled, a bit embarrassed. "Actually it kind of reminded me of one of a scene from that manga"

Shadow then turned away from the blue hedgehog, an awkward silence falling over both of them that felt like an eternity to Sonic.

"Shadow, I..." he started, wanting to apologize.

"Leave", Shadow muttered, not bothering to look at him.

"Don't get so worked up over this! I know it was wrong, but you're exaggerat-"

"What you read wasn't a book. I can't give it to you. That's it. That's why you came, right? Now, go home", he went back into his house. Sonic didn't stop him this time.

The hero knew what would happen now. If he kept insisting, he would only make the other more upset. He'd have to leave and give him some time to calm down. He'd try to apologize again later.

When he got home, Sonic climbed onto the roof. As he gazed at the stars, he reflected on what had happened today. He felt like an idiot for letting his curiosity get the better of him and thought of how Shadow needed to learn to control his temper. It only made it that much harder to talk to him at times like these.

"Still, it was fun hanging out with him", he lamented. "I shouldn't have pressured him", he said as he felt guilt set in.

"What if he never forgives me? What if he won't trust me anymore since I snooped through his stuff?" Sonic hit himself mentally. "And it took so long to gain his trust!"

In the end, he skipped dinner and went straight to bed; his appetite was the last thing on his mind. That night he was plagued by terrible nightmares of Shadow and him going back to being enemies. As the wonderful memories of their friendship faded, he could only watch as Shadow went back to his dark times. The dark hedgehog in his dream would no longer open his heart to anyone.

When he woke up, he could only comfort himself with the thought that it was only a bad dream, nothing more. In a few days everything would go back to normal like always.

When three days passed, Sonic, armed with an apple pie as a peace offering went to visit Shadow. As he approached the door to knock, he noticed the door was open.

"The door's open so I'm coming in!" he announced as he entered the small house. "Shadow?" he called, surprised to find the house was completely empty.

Sonic placed the pie on the floor and ran through all the rooms looking for an explanation of what had happened. Finally giving up, he went back to the front door only to find a note on the floor. He quickly took the paper, hoping to find answers.

 _"_ _Faker,  
I know you are the only who would think of 'visiting' me at any moment. You won't have to come back though. I don't live here anymore. I have decided it would be best for everyone if I left and moved...somewhere far. Even though it was your own insolence for getting into my private affairs, I apologize for anything you read that day. I really do. But don't worry, you won't have to see me again.  
Good bye"_

 _"Shadow…"_

Sonic read the note twice more before crushing it and throwing it aside. He took off at full speed, running every which way around the surrounding area to try and find Shadow. Not having much luck, he ran to get help.

"Tails!" he yelled as he ran into the garage and climbed onto one of the airplane's wing.

"Hi, Sonic!" Tails greeted as he took off his goggles.

"Get on the Tornado!"

"What's wrong?"

"I'll explain later. Come on!"

Without another word, the small fox got on and they both took off, not sure where he was suppose to go.

"What are we doing?"

"Shadow left. We need to find him."

"What do you mean he left?"

"He moved somewhere far away from here"

"Why would he do that? I thought we were getting along-"

"I know. I did something stupid!" Sonic answered sharply, still mad at himself. "I need to find him, to make things right and bring him back."

"Okay!" Tails said, ready to support his big brother in this. "I'll do my best to find him!"

They looked all day, flying over every place twice. Soon Tails realized that when Shadow said he was going far away, he actually meant it. He knew that if Shadow didn't want to be found, he would make sure of it. Even so, the fox kept going, knowing Sonic wouldn't give up and not really wanting to leave him alone to look.

After several hours, both were exhausted. Sonic, after trying to get the fox to return home, gave up as well. He would keep looking tomorrow, bent on finding Shadow no matter how long it would take.

He wasn't going to let those nightmares come true, not if he had anything to say about it. No, he'd find Shadow, talk to him and fix this whole mess. He wasn't going to let his own mistakes be the cause of Shadow leaving.

Meanwhile, Shadow stood outside as he admired the scenery of what would be his new home.

"It's beautiful", he thought, looking at the large forest before him. He then sighed, sorrowfully. "I ruined it all…"


	4. Chapter 4

From Enemies to Friends and Friends to…

 _Translated by l_ _ **eonardo408**_

_Chapter 4_

Days went by and still there was no sign of Shadow. In fact, they didn't know which direction to even start looking. Sonic tried asking anyone who talked to the black hedgehog but no one seemed to know. Not even Rouge who regularly had missions with him!

"I'm sorry, Sonic", was all the little fox could say.

"Ah…" the hero sighed, exhausted. "All this just for looking through that stupid laptop:

"His laptop? That's it!" the small fox quickly jumped up and ran to his garage to look for something through his stuff.

"What are you doing, Tails?" Sonic asked, curiously looking on as he moved about.

"I made that laptop for Shadow", he explained as he continued searching. "It wasn't much, just a welcome gift. I didn't think he'd keep it for so long though."

"So you have one of your boy genius ideas?" Sonic asked as a hopeful smile spread across his face.

"Sort of", Tails finally found what he was looking for and approached his friend. "Everything I make usually has something added to it, like a tracker for security. With this radar, maybe we could find him."

"Alright, Tails!" he exclaimed, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Let's see if it works"

Tails turned on the device, but nothing appeared on screen. After a few minutes, the screen was still blank. Tails lowered his ears, disappointed that his plan had failed.

"It's okay, Tails, it was a good try", Sonic said encouragingly.

"…Wait!" he said as he again darted towards his machines. "We can still do something, Sonic!"

"What do you mean?"

"It's possible that the radar doesn't pick up the signal since it's too far away. If I can make a better radar, it could pick up the laptop's signal."

"Can you do that?" he asked, though it was obvious he could. It was Tails after all!

"Of course! But it may take a few days"

"It's worth a try! I'll help", Sonic said, making his signature pose.

"Okay! I'll get to work right away!"

And so he did. Tails worked hard for one week. Sonic tried helping, though he felt he got more in the way of things. Instead, he decided to keep searching on his own. He doubted he'd find anything, but it was better than standing around doing nothing. Besides running always helped him feel better. His runs took up days and nights as he tried to avoid sleeping. Every time he would sleep, nightmares would ensue or dreams of Shadow coming back only made the reality seem worst.

Throughout the whole week, Sonic took Tails' job of making the food. He was currently making breakfast when said fox called him.

"Sonic!" he yelled from the garage.

In two seconds, the hedgehog was before him.

"What's up, Tails?"

"It's ready", he said, showing him a strange television with an assortment of antennas attached to it. "This will tell us with precision where he is. Well, if it picks up any signal. It's possible that the transmitter is broken and-" he stopped when he felt Sonic place a hand over his shoulder.

"It'll work, Tails. I believe in you." he said with a big smile.

"Yeah!" Tails took the controls. "Let's try it!" the screen flashed on, instantly showing a red dot on the map with coordinates appearing on the sides. Sonic scanned the screen, memorizing the information as best he could before running off.

"Thanks, Tails!" he yelled as he sped off.

"Wait, Sonic!" he tried. The fox sighed. Typical of his brother. "I hope they get back soon."

It took Sonic a day and a half to arrive where Shadow supposedly was. When he arrived, he found himself in the middle of a forest that was beside a mountain. It wasn't until he stopped running that he realized how tired and hungry he was, but he ignored it as best he could and kept going.

After a while, he heard the sound of water and went in that direction, finding a beautiful waterfall. He was about to leave, when he noticed a figure near the waterfall.

"Is that Shadow?" he asked himself. Rather than approach the figure, he hid himself behind a tree like a crazy stalker.

Indeed, it was the black hedgehog. He had his Air shoes, gloves and even Inhibitor Rings removed.

"He must be taking a shower or something", Sonic thought, as he hid more behind the tree. He'd never had an opportunity to see Shadow like this; it was rare sight. "I didn't know he could take those things off without having his energy overflow."

Shadow had his eyes closed, enjoying the spray of the water as it helped his muscles relax. Finally he moved out and onto the shore, grabbing a towel to dry himself. After he finished dressing, he walked back to his new home.

Sonic, like any good stalker, followed him at a safe distance, until Shadow stopped in the middle of a clearing.

"I know you're there. If you want something, come out now or leave", he warned. "Otherwise, I'll be forced to attack first."

Embarrassed, Sonic came out of hiding and approached Shadow.

"It's you!" the black hedgehog exclaimed. "How?"

"Hi, Shadow!" Sonic greeted as usual. "Well, Tails can do some pretty amazing things."

"So, it was his doing", he pondered for a second. "Either way, what are you doing here? What do you want?"

"I came to talk to you, fix this and make you come back with us", Sonic said with a serious tone.

"There's nothing to fix, Sonic. I came here on my own." he answered curtly. "It's better if you leave now."

"No, Shadow. I'm not leaving without you. You left because of me. I'm not letting you leave all your other friends just because you're mad at me."

"I left because I thought it was for the best."

"Why? How can it be good to be miles away from your friends?"

"You didn't read the note?" he asked. "It was so we wouldn't see each other". His answer only made Sonic feel worst.

"You hate me that much?!" he yelled, a bit hurt.

"No"

"Then explain this to me because I don't understand, Shadow! I don't understand why all this over something so stupid!" he shouted.

"You really don't understand?"

"No!"

"Fine. I'll explain." Shadow begin walking, Sonic following close behind.

They arrived at a small, old cabin. Shadow went in, signaling the other to follow. Inside, he took the laptop and handed it to Sonic.

"What am I suppose to do with this?" Sonic asked, holding it up.

"Finish what you started, if you want", he muttered as he turned away from him.

"No", Sonic said, placing the device on a table. "I want you to tell me."

"I can't"

"Yes you can, Shadow. Do it, please." Sonic softened his tone. Shadow sighed.

"I think you will hate me more if I tell you", he answered with sincerity. Shocked, Sonic instantly answered him.

"I can't hate you. I'm your friend, Shadow. None of your friends could ever hate you." He explained in a friendly tone "You're a hero to this world." Shadow gave a sad smile.

"You only say that because you don't understand"

"I promise that no matter what you say I will never hate you."

"We'll see", Shadow sighed again and begin. "I wrote what was on my laptop, Sonic."

"You're writing a book?" he asked, naively

"No, you idiot!" he growled back at the dumb question.

"Alright, don't get worked up", he said sheepishly between a laugh. He now realized how much he missed him all these days.

"As I was saying, I wrote that because it was a dream I had the night before your visit."

"A dream?" thought Sonic, covering his mouth to keep from laughing. "I didn't know you had those types of dreams, Shadow"

"I don't!" he felt his face heat up in embarrassment. "That's why I felt it was strange, so I wrote it down. At first I thought it was because of that strange book that I-"

"Oh! You mean the manga. Then again it did seem like one of the scenes that I read-"he said as he tried to remember. "But so what? Everyone has weird dreams sometimes, Shadow. It's normal." Sonic felt more comfortable, moving easily to sit on one of the chairs.

"You have dreams like that?" the still-embarrassed black hedgehog asked curiously.

"Huh! Me?" he was thrown off by the question, almost falling off the chair. "Well, yeah, a couple of times-". Now he was embarrassed, he never talked about this stuff with anyone.

"I see", Shadow said, deep in thought.

"Well, let's not think about that", he responded nervously. "Let's get back to what's important."

"Right!" Shadow answered, trying to recall where he left off. "The problem wasn't really what I dreamed but with whom it was". He stared at the blue hedgehog hoping he'd understand what he meant.

"Huh?"

Sonic could be so innocent sometimes, or a complete idiot. This only made him insufferable to Shadow, though sometimes he found it cute…sometimes.

"It was you!"

"So?"

"That strange dream was with you! That can't be good!" he yelled, exasperated.

"Oh…"Sonic wasn't even trying to be funny. The news was such a shock that it took him a while to actually react. "What?!"

"That…"Shadow turned away again, not wanting to see the hatred and disgust that would be there.

"Oh…"he thought for a bit. "Well, it was just a dream. We don't have control over them and sometimes they don't mean anything, Shadow. Don't worry about that." Sonic got up, making his way to comfort the other, but froze when Shadow spoke again.

"But it did mean something…"

Suddenly, Sonic understood what Shadow had meant.

"You have feelings for me, Shadow?" he asked in a serious tone, yet calm tone.

"Yes, Sonic" he turned slightly to glance at Sonic. Saying this was harder than he expected.

"Shadow, I…" he wasn't sure what to say.

"Just leave", Shadow said.

"No!" Sonic grabbed him by the arm and made him meet his eyes. "Shadow, I told you. I'm not leaving without you coming home. Listen." He thought for a minute, choosing his words carefully before saying with confidence, "I'm your friend, really. Nobody that calls you their friend would stop talking to you or hate you over something like this. In fact, I feel honored that you feel that way towards me." Sonic offered a smile "Please, come back with us. I promise nothing will change."

"Are you sure about this?" he asked a bit skeptical.

"Of course!"

"Are you sure you understand what just happened?" he asked again, starting to think the blue hedgehog had somehow misunderstood.

"Sure I do, Shadow! You like me!" he answered with the same big smile. To which Shadow nearly responds with a punch.

"Don't just say it like that!" To think all the trouble he went to say it. Just hearing Sonic say it, he felt embarrassed, humiliated, his pride stripped of him.

"Why not?"

"Because I said so, faker!"

"Fine, fine. Then…You'll come back?"

"On one condition"

"Yeah, yeah. I won't tell anyone. You'll still be the lonely and mysterious-"

"Fine. I don't want any jokes about it either."

"Oh come on!" he said, jokingly. Of course he wouldn't actually do such a thing. Playing with another person's feelings was something cowardly.

They carried on with their conversation, Shadow finally believing Sonic. It really felt like nothing had happened, but he still wasn't completely comfortable with this whole situation. He wasn't sure how things would be once they got back. Even so, he was happy to at least go back to his other friends. The other may not have the best tact, but he had known how to respond without hurting Shadow's feelings. That to Shadow was more than enough. Sonic really was a good friend.

As soon as Shadow agreed to go back, Sonic begin helping bring his stuff back to his "real home", as he put it. Chaos Control definitely made this easier.

Now he was back. Sonic sighed with exhaustion, sitting down on the sofa again, while Shadow was in the kitchen. He was really happy. Everything was back to how it should be and the universe was in order again. He was sure there would be no more nightmares, but he was still starving.

Shadow had gone to get some drinks and make something to eat, but when he came back he found the hero fast asleep. He wasn't aware of the fact that Sonic hadn't slept the last few days. Still, he chose not to wake him, deciding he deserved the rest.

He left and came back with a blanket and pillow. Moving him gently, he let him lay down on the sofa, positioning the pillow under his head and the blanket over him.

"Sleep well, faker" he whispered in an almost gentle tone. "Thank you" he gave him an innocent kiss on the forehead and went back to his own room.


End file.
